This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Boers, D Articles by van Loveren, H Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Boers, D Articles by van Loveren, H Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Asthmatic symptoms after exposure to ethylenebisdithiocarbamates and other pesticides in the Europit field studies

Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; currently employed at Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

L van Amelsvoort

Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands LGPM.vanAmelsvoort{at}epid.unimaas.nl

C Colosio

International Centre for Pesticides and Health Risk Prevention, University Hospital L. Sacco, Milan, Italy

E Corsini

Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Pharmacological Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

S Fustinoni

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Milan and Fondazione Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, Milan, Italy

L Campo

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Milan and Fondazione Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, Milan, Italy

C Bosetti

Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy

C La Vecchia

Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy; Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, University of Milan, Italy

T Vergieva

National Centre of Public Health Protection, Bulgaria

M Tarkowski

Department of Immunotoxicology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland

J Liesivuori

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Kuopio, Finland

P Steerenberg

National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

H van Loveren

National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Department of Health Risk Analyses and Toxicology, Maastricht University, the Netherlands

We conducted a multicenter prospective study to assess the effects of occupational exposure to ethylenebisdithiocarbamate fungicides and/or other pesticides on self-reported asthma and asthmatic symptoms. This multicenter study was conducted among 248 workers exposed to pesticides and 231 non-exposed workers from five field studies. The five field studies were carried out in The Netherlands, Italy, Finland, and two studies in Bulgaria. Subjects constituting this cohort completed a self-administered questionnaire at baseline (before the start of exposure). Ethylenethiourea in urine was determined to assess exposure to ethylenebisdithiocarbamates. In multivariate analyses adjusted for all potential confounders (age, education, residence, smoking, gender, and field study), we found inverse associations, all not statistically significant, between occupational exposure to pesticides and asthma diagnosis (OR 0.41; 95% CI 0.15–1.11), complains of chest tightness (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.36–1.02), wheeze (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.32–0.98), asthma attack (OR 0.52; 95% CI 0.12–2.25), and asthma medication (OR 0.79; 95% CI 0.25–2.53). Furthermore, we reported null associations for multivariate analysis using ethylenethiourea as determinant for exposure. Although exposure to pesticides remains a potential health risk, our results do not suggest an association between exposure to ethylenebisdithiocarbamates and/or other pesticides used in our study on asthma and asthmatic symptoms.

Key Words: asthma • epidemiology • ethylenebisdithiocarbamates • multicenter study • wheeze

Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 27, No. 9, 721-727 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0960327108100001


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?